The European Commission promised on 5 June to tighten visa requirements for Russian citizens amid a political backlash against France, Italy and Spain, which continue to receive hundreds of thousands of Russian tourists every year.
Source: Euronews
Details: The proposal, which is due to appear in 2027 and therefore will not affect the upcoming summer season, will be limited in scope, as visa issuance remains the responsibility of individual member states, while Brussels provides only supranational oversight.
"We will propose to introduce targeted restrictive visa measures to further address security risks stemming from hostile actions by third countries," Markus Lammert, the Commission's spokesperson for migration, said on 5 June.
The Commission declined to provide further details.
The comments came in response to a strongly worded letter sent to the Commission earlier this week by a coalition of 11 European countries: Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
Iceland and Norway are not members of the EU, but they are part of the passport-free Schengen Area.
Background: Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell on 4 June urged the European Commission to tighten rules on issuing tourist visas to Russians.
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